Tropicália, Penetrables PN 2 ‘Purity is a myth’ and PN 3 ‘Imagetical’ 1966–7 is a large-scale installation that consist of a sand floor with a winding path of gravel. Tropical plants in terracotta pots, and a metal cage with two parrots that emulate the tropics, and two Penetrabels, PN2 and PN3, made of wooden walls painted in bright primary colors reminiscent of the Bahaus, and the palette of modernist artist Piet Mondrian. Tropicália was first shown in Oiticica's exhibitionNova Objetividade Brasileira en 1967, challenging ideas of modernity by presenting the informal architecture of favelas (slums) in the gallery space and inviting the viewer to experience a poetic physical and sensual environment which makes references to the Brazilian way of life.

At the age of 17 he left Peru to study Art at the Ernesto de la Carcova Fine Arts School in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1959 he received his BA in Fine Arts (Painting,Sculpture,Print). At the same time, he attended the Rosa Frey Workshop, also in Buenos Aires. Between 1958 and 1960, Arias Vera won 12 municipal awards in Public Art Contests. Arias Vera was part of the Grupo Arte Nuevo active in the twenty-first century and one of the fathers of Pop Art in Peru, making him of one the leading figures of the visual arts of the country.

The Carrera del chasqui is an athletic event designed to bring together more than 250 remote mountain settlements in Peru. The name refers to Incan messengers who would run between the tribes to convey messages during the height of the Incan Empire. Unlike most of the art pieces on this tour, this event was actually supported by the militarist government. This was due in part to the event itself not being wildly radical. Instead, it was the reference to a native civilization which colonialism had wiped off the map that was radical. The event consisted of not only an exceptionally long relay race spanning between settlements, but also was accompanied by cultural events in the villages that connected the race.

As you have probably noticed, Lina Bo Bardi's work is included in nearly every gallery of this exhibition. The Italian architect had a spectacular influence on Latin America during her career, which was spent mostly in Brazil. Bo Bardi immigrated to Brazil after World War II with her husband, where she founded the magazine Habitat. The name referenced Bo Bardi's strong belief that buildings should be human habitats designed to maximize their full potential. In what way does this chair exemplify or negate that belief? After viewing the film, do you agree that the Sao Paulo Museum of Art is indeed a habitat? In what way does Bo Bardi's work symbolize the bond between literature (poetry) and art (architecture)?

South American art is inseparably intertwined with literature. For many South American artists, there is no separation at all, as was the case for mail artists and Proyecto Coquito which focusses on a educational book of the same name which many Latin Americans had used to learn to read and write. Despite the book being banned and teachers being forced to use the official government text, in 1979 Coquito was still in widespread use. Bedoya describes, “El ´80 había regresado a Buenos Aires, y en asamblea contra la dictadura argentina hice una ferviente crítica contra los militares. Al terminar, alguien me pregunta mi nombre y yo digo Coquito. Con ese nombre salvé mi vida, pues a Fernando Bedoya lo hubiesen desaparecido.” [In 1980 I had returned to Buenos Aires, and in an assembly against the Argentine dictatorship I made a fervent critic against the military regime. When finished, someone asked me my name and I said Coquito. With that name I saved my life, because Fernando Bedoya would have been disappeared.]

Espinoza’s works include paintings, photographs, sculptures, postcards and documentation of performances and interventions. Currently living in Florida, Espinoza is known for his nonfigurative, humorous and irreverent manipulations of grid forms, that he began developing in the late-1960s.

Following rapid economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s, geometric abstraction and kinetic art were adopted by the Venezuelan government as cultural signifiers of Venezuela's entry into modernity. The constructional quality of geometric abstraction mirrored the developmentalist rhetoric of Venezuela's government. Eugenio Espinoza used this to criticize the state and the predominantly Western forms of artmaking. In 'Circumstantial (12 coconuts),' Espinoza appropriates the modernist symbol of a grid, which he has described as the "graphic representation of real space." He challenges it by using raw canvas, displaying the work without stretcher bars and hanging it in a non-traditional way as a sculptural item rather than as a painting on the wall. He conflates the rigid imagery with what he calls "tropical or folk objects." In doing so, Espinoza creates irreverent works that engages the viewer through spatial obstruction.

Gautherot was a French-Brazilian photographer. Initially he studied architecture and then subsequently dedicating himself to photography. He came to Brazil in 1940, his interest in the country awakened by reading the novel Jubiabá by Jorge Amado. After a brief journey around the Amazon, he settled in Rio de Janeiro.

Brasilia was built in only 41 months, from 1956 to 1960, as part of Juscelino Kubitschek's campaign, "50 years of prosperity in 5". It was a city built to be free of colonial influence, but was never able to fully escape. Lucio Costa served as the head urban designer with Oscar Niemeyer as his head architect. Together, the two built a truly modern city composed of two axes, with government buildings along the north/south axis and the residential neighborhoods spanning east to west. At the time of construction, the neighborhoods built 'superblocks' that were championed as equalizers and played a large role in why Costa's plan was selected from the over 5,000 submitted. The housing blocks were intended to make a more egalitarian city where the upper and middle classes lived side by side. Costa also designated lower income housing in an attempt to prevent favelas from developing on the outskirts of the city. However, these superblocks led the city's commerce to be segregated to certain neighborhoods. Due to the city's purposeful design, it was difficult to change its geography to improve the issue.

installation: wooden structure encasing a live Anaconda snake, water receptacle, and a drawing of a map of Chile

dimensions: 83 7/16 × 66 15/16 × 17 11/16in. (212 × 170 × 45cm)

Courtesy of Juan Yarur Torres, Fundacion AMA, Santiago, Chile

Chilean born Juan Downey was living in New York when Pinochet took control of Chile. He made this piece in reaction to the Anaconda Mining Company's role in Pinochet's rise to power. This piece, like many other works in the gallery, calls into question the validity of borders that are imposed on populations rather than naturally occurring. Here the anaconda is allowed to slither freely across Chile's borders, representing the grip international companies, like The Anaconda Mining Company, had over Chilean politics as a result of colonialism. Like Downey, many other South American artists spent time abroad, prompting them to question what effect these borders have on the populations surrounding them, and what their importance is.